The Association of Former Students at Texas A&M University honored Dr. Clayton Mulvihill, a former student in the J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering, as one of its 2020 Distinguished Graduate Student Award recipients. He was one of eight university-wide recipients for The Association's research award.
Mulvihill — who graduated with his bachelor’s degree in 2013, his master’s degree in 2015 and his doctoral degree in 2019 — said he was surprised to receive the award, but grateful to those who have helped him in his academic journey. Most of all, he said the achievement reflected the guidance he received from his advisor, Dr. Eric L. Petersen.
"I think this award speaks a lot to Dr. Petersen and just the quality of work that he does," Mulvihill said. "It's a huge reflection on him and I'm super grateful to have had his guidance."
Petersen, who serves the mechanical engineering department as Nelson-Jackson Chair Professor and director of the Turbomachinery Laboratory, called Mulvihill an ideal graduate student and said he expects him to have a bright future.
"Coming from the excellent A&M undergraduate mechanical engineering program, we were fortunate to have him stay in Aggieland for this graduate work," Petersen said. "His intelligence, hard work and a natural proclivity for scientific research in the laboratory formed a perfect combination."
Mulvihill now works at Argonne National Laboratory researching theoretical chemical kinetics, a shift from the experimental research he conducted while in the mechanical engineering department.
"Basically, what I used to work on measuring in the laboratory at Texas A&M, I'm now trying to calculate theoretically," Mulvihill said. "Experiments and theory have always complemented each other or pointed out new areas to do research, so I just flipped to the other side of things."
Mulvihill said his best advice to current undergraduate and graduate students is to not be afraid to explore areas outside of their academic comfort zone and — specifically for graduate students — to remember that hard work will pay off in time.
"Don't be afraid to branch out and have experiences in areas different from what you're studying, that was something I never regretted," Mulvihill said. "And, for grad students, just know that a lot of your productivity is going to be measured a few years down the road. The gratification may be delayed, but it's worth it."